When I go away for a week of spiritual retreat, I like to rent a room in the house of an elderly couple that live a quiet existence--sometimes it's an out of the way bed and breakfast. I search all over the internet for such places. I'm not looking for locale, I'm looking for two things: silence and solitude. When I awoke on the first morning of my recent getaway, I was considering skipping breakfast because I'm not a big breakfast guy, but at the last minute I decided to go on down and see what they were serving. I didn't realize when I walked down the stairs I was heading to a divine appointment. I plopped down at the table and the only other guests in the house were already seated--a couple in their 50s. I figured they were Christians only when the food came because they were looking awkwardly at each other doing the old "how can we say grace in front of this strange man" thing.Turns out, they are the leading couple at a two year old, 100 member, church plant in Austin, Texas. This couple has poured themselves into their church for 24 months in extraordinary ways and they are exhausted, discouraged, and maybe even disillusioned about the whole thing. What ensued was a two hour ministry of encouragement. As the founding pastor of an 8 year old church I had immediate credibility with them. They poured their hearts out and I tried to encourage them in every way I could think of. Their eyes welled up with tears when I reminded them that one day when Jesus comes again, He is coming for the church--not a conference, not a para church organization. . . the church. God's Kingdom on earth is organized into local churches which are Christ's plan for disciple making. So, their efforts in planting their local church, as exhausting as it might be, could well be the most significant contribution to the Kingdom of God they will make in their entire lives. The sacrifices, frustrations, cost, and demands of planting a local church are worthy of Jesus Christ! I was thrilled when the wife looked at her husband and said, "this is worth it, we must keep going." Toward the end of our two hour discussion, the wife said our encounter was arranged by God. The husband said they thought they came on their 4 day getaway to be refreshed, but that he realized God brought them here to meet with me. Only after breakfast did I discover their car was packed to head back to Austin and at the last minute they decided to stick around for breakfast. Wow. Only the sovereignty of God can account for our "chance" encounter. A discouraged couple from Austin nearly leave before breakfast and a pastor from Houston who any other day would have skipped breakfast, end up eating breakfast together in a stranger's private home and will likely never see each other again until heaven.
I'm in awe of the Lord. This was one of those encounters that I will remember for a long time. I felt as fulfilled afterwards as I do after preaching to hundreds of people at NEHBC on Sundays. It was a great reminder for me of something we've studied recently at NEHBC.
As we've journeyed through the book of Acts on Sunday mornings, we've noticed at least one strong similarity between Peter the apostle and Phillip, a committed Christ follower, but not an apostle--both of them were as passionate about ministry to individuals as they were to large crowds. Peter preached to untold masses at Pentecost and then later stopped in a crowded entry way to lead a lame beggar to faith in Christ in a one-on-one setting. Phillip preached to untold masses on the streets of an unnamed Samaritan city and then went to a remote highway and led the Ethiopian eunuch to faith in Christ in a one-on-one setting. Though these men were used by God to influence masses, they never lost their urgency for the one-on-one gospel encounters.
It's a constant battle for pastors, itinerant speakers, and musicians to keep one's eyes open and hungry for one-on-one gospel encounters. It's easy to begin thinking only in terms of gospel ministry in large group settings. But, remaining hungry and sensitive to the one-on-one opportunities is part of what it means to be Christlike, to imitate Christ. So, as we've studied this concept together at NEHBC, my prayer for myself has been that the Lord would intensify my hunger for the one-on-one gospel encounters. I want to have whatever it was Peter and Phillip had. As usual, the Lord has faithfully been answering this prayer--funny how the Lord always answers prayers that are in accordance with His will!
Those of you who are musicians, bible study teachers, preachers, evangelists, conference speakers, itinerant speakers: has your passion for the one-on-one gospel encounters waned? As you walk through airports, sit on airplanes, study, pray, and dream big dreams, are you solely focused on the large group gospel encounters? We must not forget that to be Christlike is to be as passionate about the individual encounters as we are the large group settings. If you are like me, this must be a constant matter of prayer.
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